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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

Rostosky
3000 Post Club Member
Registered: 04/30/11
Posts: 3339
Loc: Lost in cyberspace.in the UK.

Okay here we go: Kicking us off today with Opus 62, no1 we have ZRTF90 who had this to say about the first of his chosen pieces;"It's been an experience! If I'd known before I put my name down that it was to go on YouTube I might not have gone ahead. Now that it's done I might stop using Box.net!

The technology has been more instructive than learning the pieces, which has been relatively easy. I set up my learning schedule at the end of last year and, but for the odd week, I've pretty much followed the plan with little need for adjustment save the middle of No. 27 which has been a bit of a nightmare and I can't see why!

The extension to April gave me three extra weeks and I've capitalised on this by taking a couple of weeks off. One when the extension was announced and one before recording began of the pieces in their entirety (I've been recording sections to see how they sound and how I'm progressing - I think I could use a period of maturation). The third week has been taken up learning Movie Maker and YouTube.

No. 25 was a difficult choice. I was considering No. 43 and was disappointed that some of the songs I might have liked to try had been taken. My dance card is now filling up with a lot of these pieces.

The concentrated learning sequence was a throw back to my early years with a teacher; the same piece week in, week out with no assimilation in between and little progress made (or noticed) from one week to the next. I do better doing a week or two at a time, noticing improvements when I return and sucking up the next section much faster. Towards the end we'd developed a more casual approach of looking at whatever I'd been working on during the week. If I ever go back to having a teacher I'd insist on this staggered learning path, albeit monitored and systematic."

Edited by Rostosky (04/26/1311:46 AM)

_________________________

Rise like lions after slumber,in unvanquishable number. Shake your chains to earth like dewwhich in sleep has fallen on you. Ye are many,they are few. Shelley

Rostosky
3000 Post Club Member
Registered: 04/30/11
Posts: 3339
Loc: Lost in cyberspace.in the UK.

For the next rendition which is opus62.no.3 we have ZRTF90's second piece today:

"I chose No. 27 early. I had a quick listen to the lot and this one stood out, really. Had I known the pieces better I might have looked elsewhere but I don't regret choosing it.There was a good contrast in the two pieces, one is melody and accompaniment, not much of a stretch technically and not too cloying a melody. The other is more heavily chordal, and a test of my finger synchronisation. There are places I will be able to voice better over time and the left hand can be more subdued but my overall feeling is positive.

It's been fun helping others, too. Some have been open on the main thread and others via PM but I've made some good friends (and some surprises) over the last six months. It's difficult, when you get to know someone behind the scenes, to remember to use their public moniker but it's great to put a fuller picture of the personality to the name and get a stronger feeling of human interaction."

Edited by Rostosky (04/26/1311:52 AM)

_________________________

Rise like lions after slumber,in unvanquishable number. Shake your chains to earth like dewwhich in sleep has fallen on you. Ye are many,they are few. Shelley

Rostosky
3000 Post Club Member
Registered: 04/30/11
Posts: 3339
Loc: Lost in cyberspace.in the UK.

And to finish off this opus we have Numerian, who had this to say;"My policy on Spring Song centered around the curious fact that there are few piano recordings of this piece on YouTube. There are many more recordings done on the violin or cello, or a string quartet where the arpeggios can be taken up by a second violin. In these string versions, the melody is taken quite slowly and milked rather shamelessly for its romanticism.

This approach doesn't quite work on the piano, I think because of the rapid decay of the sound that would make the melody sound clipped if not staccato. You have to use some heavy pedal to play this piece slowly on the piano, and then the arpeggios wind up sounding heavy as well - not light at all. So...you can play it allegretto on an 1830's piano, with its very light touch and harp-like treble tones. That would work - it obviously worked for Mendelssohn. Or, on a modern piano, you can use an awful lot of finger shifting on the melodic notes to keep the sustain going, while you play it rapidly. If you are recording it you can add a lot of reverb which is probably the best approach, but I didn't have that option. I also went for a plip-plop, or water-dripping sound in the arpeggios. It worked for the most part, but again, only if you keep the melodic notes as sustained and connected as possible.

The net result is that this is a much more difficult piece to play well on a modern piano. Which brings us back to why there are so few recordings of Spring Song for piano."

Edited by Rostosky (04/26/1312:09 PM)

_________________________

Rise like lions after slumber,in unvanquishable number. Shake your chains to earth like dewwhich in sleep has fallen on you. Ye are many,they are few. Shelley

Thanks AimeeO, Farmgirl, JimF and Wisebuff for your kind comments, - I think we're such a nice bunch of people, and better for being 'human' about things!? I'm not 'beating myself up' over the experience, cos I don't think any experiences in life are wasted -all a chance to learn.

By the way I think the train fitted the music too - even though it felt like it moved more slowly than my frantic playing (I was a slave to the tempo).

Hi everyone! Well done on accomplising this huge task to all of you! I haven't had (and won't have) the time to watch them for a bit yet. I'm up to my eyeballs in practice at home and trying to finish my bike up, so I haven't been around. In a few weeks I should have some time so I'll catch up then!

Sam S -Opus 53 no. 5 - Thanks so much for the music follow-along. I loved your touch, everything had just the right amount of connectedness and staccato. And the flow throughout the piece was perfect. The RH 16th notes were wonderfully delicate, too. Bravo.

WiseBuff -Opus 53 no. 4 - Very lyrically played. I liked watching the "ease" in your hands, and their familiarity with the keys. You looked at home Lovely.

Neither Rossy nor Wayne have been short of praise and gratitude for their work in this recital but their unstinting efforts are continuing still and I don't want them missing out on any further credit due.

As it was my piece that was unwittingly duplicated in today's postings I was copied in the PM's that flew back and forth sorting out the issue, which has now been resolved. So more thanks, Rossy and Wayne, for going above and beyond...______________________

And while I'm here may I express my delight to all the partcipants so far. Just when I thought I'd have heard enough Mendelssohn for a little while you guys come back and thrill me with a renewed addiction.

Beric is having a few problems with his pc so can't post responses directly onto this thread at the moment - so he's asked me to comment on his behalf until this is sorted. He says:

.MORODIENE op 53 No 1So much of your playing went way beyond the notes. I had never heard your piece before. Such was the expressiveness and warmth of your playing that I just had to go to the piano and play it for myself. You made this 'song' very your own, endowing it with your own meaning. In the most complimentary way you seemed to be in a world apart and you needed no words either for your message. You have set the bar high'

>to finish off this opus...Numerian, also very nice. "plip plop" is a very apt description indeed . What happens if you don't use pedal at all?

If you play Spring Song as dryly as possible, with very little damper pedal,you lose the bass notes. As your left hand picks out a bass note or bass octave, it instantly leaves to participate further up the keyboard in the arpeggios. Many of these arpeggios work best if they are shared by both hands, especially if you are playing at the proper quick tempo. If you don't hold the pedal down for the bass notes, the harmonic structure of the piece falls apart. I tried using the sostenuto pedal as an in-between solution, but too many of the notes in the right hand are hit simultaneously with the bass and then quickly played again, so the sostenuto just muddies things. The only solution I could find is in most bars holding the damper down half-way through the bar. You get enough of a carry of the bass note harmony, and enough of the plip-plop sound of the arpeggios, and enough of the melody being held with whatever fingers you've got left, that everything works out.

Rostosky
3000 Post Club Member
Registered: 04/30/11
Posts: 3339
Loc: Lost in cyberspace.in the UK.

MENDELSSOHN: CONSOLIDATIONAs leader of the Gewandhaus orchestra in Leipzig from 1834, Mendelssohn had freedom to organise the city's music, as well as to compose. He was there 10 years, and during that time he built a first rate orchestra, introducing the growing audiences to new works, such as Schuberts' last symphony which Schumann had rescued. He also staged performances of contemporary composers such as Schumann and Chopin, and works by composers who had become less fashionable. This is a picture of the Leipzig Gewandhaus during a performance.

He broadened the role of the conductor, beyond a simple time beater.He was instrumental in promoting a revival of Bach's music. His home life was secure, and he was famed as a composer and conductor. Clara Schumann also claimed he was: " 'the greatest pianist of the age'... one may suggest that what Frau Schumann was talking about was not virtuosity, but artistry... There are no doubt pianists who could play faster or more brilliantly than Mendelssohn... few, very few could have matched his powers of interpretation.... He was not a recitalist....(accounts of his playing refer to him as a concerto soloist). .... He simply had not the time, let alone the inclination, to be a touring virtuoso."

The death of the repressive king of Prussia in 1840 was expected to herald a new era of freedom in Berlin, and Mendelssohn accepted a post there, but left after encountering bureaucratic problems. He returned to Leipzig to found the Leipzig conservatory.His visits to England continued, and in 1842 he conducted the Scottish symphony there. He had an introduction to Prince Albert from the new King of Prussia.In 1843 he was appointed Generalmusikdirektor of Prussia, and one of his duties was the supervision/provision of church music. In this he came up against clerical restrictions against the use of intruments in church. Of his church music, Elijah stands out as a major achievement.

Edited by Rostosky (04/27/1312:49 PM)

_________________________

Rise like lions after slumber,in unvanquishable number. Shake your chains to earth like dewwhich in sleep has fallen on you. Ye are many,they are few. Shelley

Rostosky
3000 Post Club Member
Registered: 04/30/11
Posts: 3339
Loc: Lost in cyberspace.in the UK.

Starting off today we have opus 67.no1. played by Timmyab.

"I got to know this piece through Murry Perahia's recording of it.I play it a bit slower than he does partly through choice and partly through necessity.The main difficulty for me was in the second half where the high B flats are added.My hands aren't big enough to play both the melody and the high notes with the right hand so I had to use my left hand a couple of times which is kind of awkward and breaks the flow a bit."

Edited by Rostosky (04/27/1312:53 PM)

_________________________

Rise like lions after slumber,in unvanquishable number. Shake your chains to earth like dewwhich in sleep has fallen on you. Ye are many,they are few. Shelley

Rostosky
3000 Post Club Member
Registered: 04/30/11
Posts: 3339
Loc: Lost in cyberspace.in the UK.

Opus 67.no.2 came to us from Dire tonic, who had this to say:

"I bit off more than I could chew - at the limit of my technique. I spent far too long listening to too many recordings at breakneck pace so after the recital I’ll be re-thinking it, almost certainly slower.

Recording was the usual fiasco - the one we all know and fear. In fact up to about 1:38 I felt I'd fluked a better than average take. As always, that was my downfall because I looked back and looking back - thinking about how well bars 1-49 went whilst in the middle of playing bar 50 - is fatal. But then I realised I had everything to play for; 1-49 went well - it HAD to be this take! Finally, realising "it HAD to be this take!", with so much at stake, a creeping paralysis took hold of my entire upper body, arms, wrists, fingers. So there's a big botch-up as I go into a kind of spasm at about 1:43 (those with a nervous disposition should look away) although characteristically that failure helped me to relax for the remainder of the piece. It's always like this; the better the going, the worse the outlook and, conversely, whenever I foul-up, I've half given up so I can usually relax.

On a later listen I decided the whole process was threatening my sanity and decided to accept this as my best offering."

Edited by Rostosky (04/27/1312:56 PM)

_________________________

Rise like lions after slumber,in unvanquishable number. Shake your chains to earth like dewwhich in sleep has fallen on you. Ye are many,they are few. Shelley

Rostosky
3000 Post Club Member
Registered: 04/30/11
Posts: 3339
Loc: Lost in cyberspace.in the UK.

Straight on to opus 67 no.3 and Timmyab again:

"I didn't know this piece at all until I started studying op67 no1.It's relatively simple with very little in the way of technique needed to play it.The difficulties that there are are subtle.Having said that, I've still managed to make it sound ugly in places.This recording has a tendency to send me to sleep.I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

Edited by Rostosky (04/27/1312:59 PM)

_________________________

Rise like lions after slumber,in unvanquishable number. Shake your chains to earth like dewwhich in sleep has fallen on you. Ye are many,they are few. Shelley

Rostosky
3000 Post Club Member
Registered: 04/30/11
Posts: 3339
Loc: Lost in cyberspace.in the UK.

And today we have Morodiene who stepped in at a moments notice as a substitute for Carey who unfortunately had to go into hospital last week.

Morodiene had just a matter of days to learn and record this piece! ( well done that girl!) So here we have opus67 no.4 played by Morodiene who said this about it:

"I have put this together after 4 days of practice, about 3-4 hours total work. By no means do I consider this finished! I do hope Carey is feeling better and will be able to upload his recording soon. I do plan to continue to work on this to get it up to tempo and to get more evenness out of it. It's quite a fun little piece and I think with a little more time it will sound better. Thanks for listening!"

Edited by Rostosky (04/27/1301:03 PM)

_________________________

Rise like lions after slumber,in unvanquishable number. Shake your chains to earth like dewwhich in sleep has fallen on you. Ye are many,they are few. Shelley

Additional info:Well, I could start telling here what all is wrong with this my submission, but rather not, it would be a very long and boring-obvious text (if you understand to my english) :-)

What did this submission bring to me?:1) I can spell Felix's full name.2) I know Felix had a beautiful wife Cécile: "a woman of striking beauty, a petite woman with delicate features and a calm, quiet, gracious manner"...hmm3) I know 2 sharps are b minor key - not only D Major.4) The ability to play blocked chords simultaneously and to produce reasonable voicing is pretty hard task.

Something about this piece:It is a nice piece...I mean it seriously. Even after trying to play it for 100 times I still like it (when played by Barenboim :-)This piece has a title "The Shepherd's Complaint". The origin of this title is not known to me but definitively it did not come from Felix. I would rather say it sounds more like "The Shepherd-Wife's Complaint" as I am imagining a Fury wife holing head of a poor shepherd by neverending chain of complaints. Maybe Cécile was not a such calm and quite lady :-D

Thanks to:1) wayne33yrs and Rostosky for organising this recital2) all patient listeners

My hard work on this piece is Dedicated to my nephew Filip born earlier this year....and to all suffering husbands :-D"

Edited by Rostosky (04/27/1301:08 PM)

_________________________

Rise like lions after slumber,in unvanquishable number. Shake your chains to earth like dewwhich in sleep has fallen on you. Ye are many,they are few. Shelley

Ok next round!Op 62, n 1: I love it Richard! I am especially envious of your balance in that piece.. bravo!Op 62, n 2: That sounds like a party and a roller coaster mixed into one, Oleg.. sounds hard! Of course, you did a great job with it!Op 62, n 3: Richard, just looking at all of those chords send me into fits. I'm exhausted just looking at the sheets. Your dynamics were awesome. Well done!Op 62, no 4: I love the build in that piece.. well done Oleg!Op 62, no 5: Gandalf, more balanced glory.. I don't know if it's more prevalent in this opus or if it's just something I happen to fixate on today, but I'm extremely jealous. Lovely rises and falls. This is a piece I will have to investigate in the future. Thank you!Op 62, no 6: My hat's off to you, Numerian. Pulling off those arpeggios is a feat. I can't imagine trying to learn the piece AND trying to make it fit today's pianos. But you did, and the results are outstanding.

Oooh as I was posting a new crop popped up!

Op 67, no 1: Timmy, that was so sweet and gentle! If there was any awkwardness on your end, it certainly didn't come through in your playing. A beauty.Op 67, no 2: Phooey! Dire Tonic, if there WAS a botch up (I don't quite believe you ), you recovered extremely well. Watching your left hand for this piece wore me out. Great work learning this, because it sounds natural. I think it's great!Op 67, no 3: Timmy, it's "put you to sleep" in a good way. This piece (and your playing) has a tremendous calming affect, because you have such control over it and the listener (me!) knows that it's going to end well, and she can relax. I really enjoyed it.Op 67, no 4: Morodiene, I can't believe you picked this up in 4 hours, and then managed to record it! I am jealous and need to possess your skills Thanks for taking it up, and thanks for doing such a great job with it!Op 67, no 5: Pavel, your level of playing is very impressive for the short amount of time you've been learning. I liked it!Op 67, no 6: Numerian, what a happy piece! It made me want to start skipping around! Well done!

ZRTF90, Op 62 No 1: Such a tender rendition of this piece! Great balance throughout between the melody and harmonies. This piece seems very nostalgic, thoughts of better times past. Thanks for playing!

Oleg Yakerevich, Op 62 No 2: What an exuberant piece! I only wish the camera angle allowed us to see your hands flying across the keys! I'll have to take a look at this one someday, you've inspired me

ZRTF90, Op 62 No 3: I can see why you picked this. It really is a great contrast with your other choice. You play this very stately and dramatic, and not too rushed - I feel if you took a faster tempo you'd lose some of the character. Well done!

Oleg Yakerevich, Op 62 No 4: Beautifully played - very sweet.

Ganddalf, Op 62 No 5: This is my first time hearing this of the "Venetian" songs. I love how you play the upper thirds in this. Great dynamics too. Love the ending!

Numerian, Op 62 No 6: I took one look at this and decided not to do it. I recognize the melody, but like you, I haven't heard the piano rendition before, only with strings etc. It does make one wonder if Mendelssohn was really think more orchestrally with this one. I really enjoy how you treat the arpeggio grace notes, however. They really sound like birds (I think this is one of the pieces where Mendelssohn himself had chosen the title?). Wonderful job with this!

Beric is having a few problems with his pc so can't post responses directly onto this thread at the moment - so he's asked me to comment on his behalf until this is sorted. He says:

.MORODIENE op 53 No 1So much of your playing went way beyond the notes. I had never heard your piece before. Such was the expressiveness and warmth of your playing that I just had to go to the piano and play it for myself. You made this 'song' very your own, endowing it with your own meaning. In the most complimentary way you seemed to be in a world apart and you needed no words either for your message. You have set the bar high'